Blog Posts by Dave Nemetz

It’s pretty tough to catch legendary funnyman Fred Willard off-guard. He’s been perfecting the art of improvised comedy for a half-century now, from his early days with the famed Second City troupe to his memorable roles in Christopher Guest films like “Best in Show.” Now he’s bringing improv back to TV with ABC’s “Trust Us With Your Life,” a new comedy game show where Willard interviews celebrities about key moments in their lives, which are then acted out in improvised skits by top comedians. Now 72, Willard was as funny and sharp as ever when he told us this week about his new show, and about the role improv comedy has played in his long career.

Willard actually doesn’t get to improvise much on “Trust Us”; he really just quizzes the celebs (this week’s subjects are tennis champ Serena Williams and reality stars Jack and Kelly Osbourne) before turning their life stories over to the quick-witted comedians, including “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” alums Wayne Brady and Colin Mochrie. In

Read More »from Fred Willard keeps the laughs coming with his new show, 'Trust Us With Your Life'

Is this what "winning" looks like?

Charlie Sheen's new FX comedy "Anger Management" debuted to huge numbers last night, scoring the biggest scripted comedy debut in cable history. It pulled in 5.47 million total viewers, with 2.65 million of those in the coveted adults 18-49 demographic; that's the biggest series premiere in FX history. And even better news for Sheen and FX: The audience grew as the hour went on, with an audience of 5.74 million viewers tuning in for "Anger's" second half-hour.

Now those numbers are a far cry from Sheen's former show, CBS's "Two and a Half Men," which drew an average of 15 million viewers this past season -- its first with Ashton Kutcher replacing Sheen. But viewers abandoned "Men" as Kutcher's debut season wore on, with only 11.33 million tuning in for May's season finale. And to be fair, "Men" airs on a major network during the prime TV viewing season, while "Anger" debuted on a relatively tiny cable network in the middle of summer.

Read More »from 'Anger Management' scores biggest comedy debut in cable history

Well, it didn't take long for Charlie Sheen to address the whole "Two and a Half Men" fiasco on his new FX show, "Anger Management." In the opening moments of tonight’s premiere (which you can watch above), Sheen's character, therapist Charlie Goodson, threw punches and angrily yelled at an unseen adversary: "You can't fire me, I quit! You think you can replace me with some other guy? Go ahead, it won't be the same! You may think I'm losing, but I'm not! I'm…”

But he stopped himself before delivering his go-to catchphrase. And no, he wasn’t directing more venom at "Men" boss Chuck Lorre; Goodson was just demonstrating to his anger-management patients how to properly express their rage. (He was actually unloading on a pear-shaped punching bag he calls "Bobo.") The opening served as a clever wink to Sheen's well-publicized exit from his last TV show -- and a nice entry point for “Two and a Half Men” fans curious to see what their old pal is up to now.

Read More »from Charlie Sheen pokes fun at his own firing on the 'Anger Management' premiere [Video]

Emilio, Ramon, Martin, and Charlie together on the red carpet last fall (Imeh Akpanudosen/Getty Images)So we're assuming you've heard plenty about Charlie Sheen and his return to TV over the past few weeks. But you still may not know much about his comeback vehicle, FX's new comedy "Anger Management." That's where we come in: Here are five things to know about Sheen's new project before it debuts Thursday night.

(1) It's a family affair
"Anger Management" is starting to look like a Sheen family reunion. Charlie's dad Martin Sheen is slated to play his on-screen father in an upcoming episode, and ex-wife Denise Richards will also pop up in a future installment as a love interest for Charlie who doesn't believe in therapy. Plus, Charlie's little-seen brother Ramon Estevez is onboard as an executive producer (he's actually worked behind the scenes in Hollywood for more than a decade). And Charlie's even hoping to bring in brother Emilio Estevez, either to guest star as one of his patients or to direct a few episodes. Maybe they can all carpool!

Read More »from 5 things to know about 'Anger Management'

Like a hungry pooch, we gobbled up every last morsel of the first season of FX’s surreal canine comedy “Wilfred,” starring Elijah Wood as a depressed loner who sees his neighbor’s dog (Jason Gann) as a walking, talking, pot-smoking Australian dude in a dog suit. But we were afraid it’d be too out-there to catch on with a mainstream audience. So imagine our surprise when “Wilfred” scored the biggest comedy debut ratings in the network’s history -- and landed a plum timeslot for Season 2, following Charlie Sheen’s much-hyped new sitcom, “Anger Management.”


We recently caught up with Wood, Gann, and co-star Fiona Gubelmann (Jenna) on set while they were shooting Season 2, and they shared with us what initially drew them to the project, described the process of adapting the original Australian version for U.S. audiences, and hinted at all the weirdness we can expect from the new season. Plus, find out which one is them is secretly Read More »from The cast of 'Wilfred' debates dogs vs. cats and previews Season 2 [Exclusive Video]

Fans of Starz's sword-and-sandals drama "Spartacus: Blood and Sand" were devastated to learn last September that original series star Andy Whitfield had passed away from non-Hodgkin lymphoma at the tragically young age of 39. But now there's a way for fans to help memorialize the late actor: A new documentary chronicling Whitfield's battle with the disease, "Be Here Now," is in post-production now, and the filmmakers are seeking fan donations to help complete the project.

Entertainment Weekly first reported on the documentary from Oscar-nominated filmmaker Lilibet Foster, in which Whitfield invited a camera crew to follow him as he traveled the world with his wife Vashti, seeking alternative treatment from the best doctors in the world in hopes of beating his grim cancer diagnosis. "Be Here Now" also gives us a behind-the-scenes look at Whitfield filming his lead role as Spartacus, along with heartwarming footage of his home life with Vashti and their two young children. Andy's manager

Read More »from 'Spartacus' star Andy Whitfield's battle with cancer captured in new documentary

Before Charlie Sheen's new FX sitcom "Anger Management" premieres this week, we have one last installment of our exclusive web series, "On the Couch With Dr. Sheen," to share with you. All month long here on Yahoo! TV, Sheen has been helping everyday people cope with their real-life anger issues, and the grand finale finds him counseling Adrian, a young man who got involved in a very strange road-rage incident.

As Adrian tells it to Charlie, he got cut off in traffic while driving home from work. So he did what any normal person would do in that situation: He walked up to the other driver's window and unleashed a bizarre "zap-diddy-doo" angry dance in the guy's face. That'll teach him! (Or at least scare him off.)

Well, that does it for our "On the Couch With Dr. Sheen" web series, but be sure to heed Dr. Sheen's sage advice and tune into "Anger Management" when it premieres this Thursday, June 28 at 9 PM on FX.

More Charlie Sheen Coverage on Yahoo! TV:

• Charlie Sheen Helps a

Read More »from Charlie Sheen helps a patient with his 'angry dance' on 'On the Couch With Dr. Sheen' [Exclusive Video]

Cue the Celine Dion music: One of the "Deadliest Catch" boats has a "Titanic" moment this week when it drifts right into an iceberg.

In this exclusive sneak peek at tomorrow night's episode, Ramblin' Rose captain Elliott Neese puts a new deckhand at the wheel while the rest of the crew gets some much-needed rest after a long day of fishing. And it looks like the rookie needed some rest, too, because in spite of Elliott warning him to keep an eye out for ice, he lets himself doze off for a second in the captain's chair. Sure enough, while he's snoozing, the boat drifts into a massive sheet of ice. Oops... we hope that guy didn't bother unpacking his stuff, because he might not be employed for much longer. 

"Deadliest Catch" airs Tuesdays at 9 PM on Discovery.

Read More »from 'Deadliest Catch' sneak peek: The Ramblin' Rose rambles into an iceberg [Exclusive Video]